Running Times

April's magazine had some good 5k workouts in it. One comment by Pete Magill really struck me. He coaches 1,000's of runners and usually takes them off the track for workouts. I've got to say, I LIKE my track and even though I'd always rather be outside, i LIKE my treadmill! I like the reassurance that I'm on pace, on time. Pete commented on this by describing two such runners who worried that leaving the oval might hurt their specific time goals. These two were running 19 min 5k and trying to get into the 18's. HUM...sound like anyone (me)? A few months after training with Pete one runner PRd with 16:40 and the other with 17:50!!!! So, maybe that treadmill is holding me back :)

Here's one of his workouts. I'm going to leave my comfy 400m tomorrow and race through the neighborhood.

This is a 5k specific workout and such workouts should be run once a week. This is a progression of sessions, so start where you think you are and move up as you train. All reps are followed by 3 mins jogging unless indicated. Oh, you should run these at your CURRENT 5k pace. Don't go too fast or too slow. When you finish you should feel like you could do a couple more. If you don't feel tired, you didn't go fast enough.

*5-10 x 1 min (2-min recovery)
*5 x 2 min
*5 x 3 min
*4 x 4 min
*5 x 4 min
*4 x 5 min
*5 x 5 min

Tomorrow I think I might start with the 5 x 4 or the 4 x 5. This will substitute for my normal mile repeats that I do on the treadmill (oh, the safety!). I've been warming up, running 3 x 1 mile repeats at 6 min mile (my goal pace) and a cool down. Pete commented that we should not be running our goal pace as we train, but running where we're at (which is more like 6:20 for me) and that in doing so we'll lower our times by conditioning properly.

April's magazine also had a big article on barefoot running. Took me back to my college days, when not only did we complete many workouts barefoot, by I got an A+ in Speech 101 for delivering a convincing piece on the topic. Anyway, I still take the shoes off from time to time and love to get my lightweights on for speed stuff. BUT now I'm eyeballing the

VIBRAM FIVEFINGERS

any opinions?